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2014 Season Review: Chris Young and the Extra Outfielders

November 19, 2014 by Mike 88 Comments

As is the case every season, the Yankees cycled through several extra players in the outfield in 2014 to help cover for injuries and soak up spare innings in September. There weren’t as many random outfielders as their were random infielders, but there were more than I realized. Here’s the group.

Chris Young

After he was released by the Mets at midseason, the Yankees grabbed Young off the scrap heap, stashed him in Triple-A for a week, then called him up when rosters expanded in September. The idea was to add some depth because Carlos Beltran’s elbow kept barking, and also potentially add some right-handed pop to a lineup almost devoid of it. I closed the post about the signing with this:

Maybe he’ll hit a random big homer or something.

In his sixth game as a Yankee, Young did this:

Random big homer! That was actually the second homerun in a stretch of three homers in three games for Young, who put his struggles with the Mets behind him and gave the Yankees a very nice month of September. He hit .282/.354/.521 (146 wRC+) with three homeruns and a stolen base in 78 plate appearances. Young was playing left field on an everyday basis by the end of the month due to injuries elsewhere in the outfield. The Yankees hit the scrap heap lottery.

Young credited since-fired hitting coach Kevin Long with helping him break some bad habits — “I’ve been able to find some things here that can carry me for years to come,” he said to Dan Barbarisi in September — so there’s at least some chance the improvement was real and not just a small sample fluke. The Yankees obvious think it’s real — they re-signed Young to a one-year contract earlier this month to serve as the team’s fourth outfielder next year. Brian Cashman said the club’s analytical department pushed to bring Young back.

For the final month of the 2014 season, Young gave the Yankees a nice shot in the arm. He hit some clutch homers — he hit an extra-innings go ahead homer against the Orioles the day after the walk-off shot (video), but the bullpen blew the lead — and played some nice defense as well. It wasn’t enough to get New York into the postseason, but Young as a positive contributor during his brief time in pinstripes.

Zoilo Almonte

Almonte was the team’s classic up-and-down outfielder this summer. He spent most of the year with Triple-A Scranton, where he hit .261/.311/.437 (103 wRC+) with 18 homeruns in 105 games. The Yankees called Zoilo up three different times through the season to help fill in for injuries, though he still only managed to appear in 13 games. He went 5-for-36 (.139) with one very long solo homer (video).

Rather than come back up when rosters expanded in September, the Yankees designated Almonte for assignment to clear a spot on the 40-man roster for Young. Zoilo cleared waivers and became a minor league free agent after the season. He’s since hooked on with the Braves on a Major League contract. Despite all his power production in the minors (74 homers since 2010), Almonte was never going to get much of a chance with the Yankees. He had a 39 wRC+ with the big league team in 149 plate appearances the last two years.

Antoan Richardson

Man, talk about random. The Yankees signed Richardson as a minor league free agent last winter and he put up a nice .271/.380/.364 (114 wRC+) batting line with three homers and 26 steals in 27 attempts with Triple-A Scranton before being a surprise September call-up. The Yankees called him up to serve as their designated pinch-runner and, sure enough, he went 5-for-5 in steal attempts. He did get picked off first once and was also doubled off first when he put his head down and kept running on a fly ball, perhaps forgetting the number of outs. Richardson did have one nice series in Baltimore by going 4-for-10. His time in pinstripes ended with five hits in 16 at-bats (.313) and those five steals. The team dropped him from the 40-man roster after the season and he’s since become a free agent.

Fun Fact: Richardson scored the run on Derek Jeter’s walk-off single in his final home game at Yankee Stadium. Jose Pirela led the inning off with a single and Richardson came on to pinch-run. Brett Gardner bunted him up to second and Jeter took care of the rest.

Eury Perez

September acquisitions are rare, but the Yankees claimed Perez off waivers from the Nationals on September 22nd, after Washington designated him for assignment to clear 40-man roster space for a waiver claim of their own (Pedro Florimon from the Twins). Perez hit .311/.372/.406 (119 wRC+) with one homer and 20 steals in 23 attempts for the Nats’ Triple-A affiliate before spending the final few days of the season in New York. He played sparingly, going 2-for-10 with three strikeouts at the plate. Perez saw time in right and center field and remains on the 40-man. Seems like he’ll fill the Almonte role of up-and-down outfielder in 2015.

DotF: Greg Bird named Arizona Fall League MVP

November 16, 2014 by Mike 216 Comments

1B Greg Bird was named the MVP of the Arizona Fall League earlier this week. He hit with .313/.391/.556 (156 wRC+) and led the league in homers (six, tied), finished second in RBI (21), total bases (55), and wRC+, third in SLG, sixth in AVG, seventh in OPS (.947), eighth in walks (13), and 12th in OBP. They’ve been handing out the AzFL MVP since 2002 and Bird is the second Yankees prospect to win it, joining Eric Duncan in 2005. Here are the rest of the week’s minor league notes:

OF Tyler Austin suffered a bone bruise in his left knee after an outfield collision last week, reports Josh Norris. “He has been diagnosed with a bone bruise. There is no damage to his meniscus or any ligament issues. He will rest for the next 2-3 weeks,” said assistant GM Billy Eppler to Chad Jennings.
Jonathan Mayo polled scouts and players about the best tools in the AzFL. OF Aaron Judge was voted as having the best outfield arm — “One scout said it’s a true 70 arm,” wrote Mayo — while Judge and Bird drew votes for best power and best hitter, respectively.
Ken Davidoff wrote profiles about both Judge and Bird. “I’m still on the fence with his bat,” said one scout about Judge. “Plus-plus power, but has some good at-bats here and then will chase off-speed. That worries me – at higher levels, that is what he will see.”
Baseball America compiled a list of all minor leaguers suspended in 2014. Yankees farmhands RHP Andy Beresford and 1B Bo Thompson were hit with 50-game suspensions after testing positive for a banned substance in August.
The Yankees have re-signed UTIL Ali Castillo after he became a minor league free agent, according to Matt Eddy. Also, OF Antoan Richardson elected free agency after being outrighted off the 40-man roster last week.
Both OF Zoilo Almonte and LHP Francisco Rondon have signed the Braves after becoming minor league free agents, says Eddy. Almonte managed to get a big league contract. Good for him.

[Read more…]

Yankees outright Antoan Richardson to Triple-A

November 4, 2014 by Mike 35 Comments

The Yankees have outrighted outfielder Antoan Richardson to Triple-A Scranton, the team announced. There are now 34 players on the 40-man roster. Richardson, 31, hit .271/.380/.364 (114 wRC+) with 26 steals in 27 attempts in 93 games for the RailRiders this summer before getting called up in September to serve as the club’s designated pinch-runner. He went 5-for-16 (.313) with five steals in 13 games for New York. Richardson will become a minor league free agent this week.

Yankees call up Chris Young, seven others as rosters expand

September 2, 2014 by Mike 202 Comments

Preston's back. (Nick Laham/Getty) — Preston’s back. (Nick Laham/Getty)

The calendar has flipped to September, which means it’s time for rosters to expand The Yankees announced they have called up eight players from Triple-A Scranton this afternoon: RHP Chaz Roe, RHP Chase Whitley, RHP Bryan Mitchell, RHP Preston Claiborne, LHP Rich Hill, C John Ryan Murphy, OF Chris Young, and OF Antoan Richardson. They’re all available for tonight’s game. Young took Alex Rodriguez’s locker, if you’re interested in that sort of stuff.

Whitley, Mitchell, Claiborne, and Murphy are already on the 40-man roster. To make room for Roe, Hill, Young, and Richardson, the Yankees released Matt Daley, designated Zoilo Almonte for assignment, and transferred both Masahiro Tanaka (elbow) and Slade Heathcott (knee) to the 60-day DL. Tanaka has been on the disabled list since July 10th, so he is eligible to be activated next Monday. Heathcott technically had to be called up from Double-A Trenton before he could be placed the 60-day DL.

The Yankees acquired Roe from the Marlins over the weekend and signed Young to a minor league deal last week. It had become obvious Almonte was never going to get a chance in New York, so he has been swapped out for the speedy Richardson, who stole 26 bases in 27 attempts with Triple-A Scranton. Whitley, Mitchell, Claiborne, Murphy, and Hill were all up with the Yankees at some other point this season. Austin Romine is the notable September call-up snub since he’s already on the 40-man roster.

As always, the September call-ups won’t play all that much these next few weeks. They’re there to eat innings in blowouts and give the regulars some rest. Young will probably see time against left-handed starters and Richardson will be the pinch-runner specialist. Given the state of the bullpen, maybe Claiborne or Mitchell will pitch their way into the Circle of Trust™ these next few weeks. Crazier things have happened. Either way, there are some extra warm bodies on the roster now.

Crasnick: Yankees sign Antoan Richardson to minor league contract

November 14, 2013 by Mike 23 Comments

Via Jerry Crasnick: The Yankees have signed outfielder Antoan Richardson to a minor league contract. The Bahamas-born and Florida-raised switch-hitter also received an invitation to Spring Training and will be with the big league squad in camp.

Richardson, 30, hit .285/.402/.371 (126 wRC+) in 523 plate appearances split between Double-A and Triple-A with the Twins this past season. He received a brief cup of coffee with the Braves in September 2011. Richardson is a classic leadoff hitter, drawings lots of walks (15.9%) with not many strikeouts (17.8%) or much power (two homers (!) and .064 ISO) over the last three seasons. He can steal bases (83-for-100 since 2011) and old scouting reports indicate he’s a very good defensive outfielder.

If nothing else, Triple-A Scranton will have one helluva leadoff hitter next season. Richardson could get an opportunity to make the team in a fifth outfielder’s role if the Yankees dump both Ichiro Suzuki and Vernon Wells this winter, but that seems unlikely. If New York manages to sneak back into the postseason in 2014, I suppose Richardson could be considered for the honorary Freddy Guzman role of pinch-running specialist.